Learning you
by Sesshomaru's 1st mate
Summary: Sakura was just trying to get over her ex. But HE would not allow that. It becomes very apparent when he starts showing up everywhere she goes. He was once the love of her life but with this new behavior… Let's just say, Sakura is in for a few surprises. My first Naruto fanfic. I will continue if you guys like this story. Please R&R! Warning: Extremely Possessive Minato.
1. Chapter 1

Sakura woke up to the sterile white walls and ceiling of her new room. Well it wasn't new per say, she'd bought this place a few weeks ago but hadn't had the will or time to paint or unpack the boxes that were stacked up in the corner of her bedroom. She didn't even have a proper bed, just a mattress on the floor in the middle of the room.

Grabbing the blanket from her body, Sakura stood from her make shift bed and headed to the shower. Quickly stripping herself, she stepped under the water and sighed. The hot water did wonders for her aching body. Ever since her break up with Minato last month, she had been working double shifts as often as she could, just to keep busy. Her life outside Minato and work was non-existent. All of her friends were in relationships, married or busy trying to make to make a name for themselves with taking endless missions.

 _'Even Ino-pig is busy these days.'_ She smiled half heartedly as she thought about her best friend with her huge belly. _'She's do any day now.'_ That was her last thought before she finished up her shower and retreated back to her room. Sakura shivered slightly from the cold. She always did prefer to air dry. Thankfully it wasn't too cold in her little apartment and her body adjusted quickly. She looked down at the boxes in front of her and grabbed the one that was labeled **CLOTHES** , which was only one that was opened.

"Man… I really need to make time to unpack and fully settle into this place." She sighed to herself before grabbing and outfit for the day and walking back into the bathroom, dressing and brushing her teeth. All she had to do now was take a comb to the mass of tangled pick tresses that was her hair _. 'My favorite part of the morning!'_ She thought bitterly as she raked the comb through the waist length strawberry hair. Taking a glance at herself in the mirror, she nodded in approval. Her outfit for the day consisted of a sea foam green, form fitting t- shirt and her usual short black tights. Throwing on her black calf high nin boot and white coat, the pinkette headed to work.

The entire day went by so quickly. It was well after 1 in the morning and Sakura was exhausted. She had pulled another double. She was on her way to clock out for the day before a nurse with short black hair and came running up to her, clip board in hand.

"Sakura-sama! I'm glad I caught you before you went home. There's a woman here that is demanding you assistance. We keep sending in staff to help her but she keeps turning them away. She said that she won't allow anyone to check her beside you. Would you mind seeing her before you leave for the night."

 _'God damn it! I was so close to my bed…'_ God, she could roll her eyes right now but she held that action back and forced a smile on her face. Even though she was known for her temper, throwing a tantrum right not now would not get her home right now.

"I'll do it but you are buying me lunch tomorrow. A favor for a favor, right Shiki-san?" The nurse gave nervous smile and nodded hesitantly.

"S-sure Sakura-sama. Its room 213." Sakura nodded and headed to the direction of the room. A small part of her felt a bit guilty messing with the woman. It was just a spur of the moment thing that she would forget all about by tomorrow.

Sakura reached the room in a few moments and she could not believe what she was seeing as she rounded the corner to see last patient for the night. Low and behold, the only man she ever loved had been there. Sitting on the hospital bed, hunched over slightly with his hand clutching the lower left side of his torso which had been stained in blood. His beautiful face was twisted in pain slightly; clearly the wound must have been extremely painful.

Sakura almost ran to him, she wanted to but the site before her made her freeze in place. He was not alone. She' was there. Her, that woman. That beautiful red headed woman that had brought all Sakura's insecurities to the surface with one glance.

"Kushina." Sakura whispered.

Kushina stood in front of Minato, her forehead pressed against his and hands running threw his hair soothingly. Sakura's heart tightened painfully in her chest as she continued to gaze at the couple, unable to pull her away from the scene. She turned around quickly and put her back against the wall near the entrance of the room they were currently occupying. Closing her eyes, she willed the tears that were on the brink of pouring down her face away.

 _'So it was true all along. He really did love her.'_ Despair ran through her tiny form, shaking her frail body. _'It ok, I can face this. I can handle this.'_ Taking in one long shaky breath, Sakura wiped away the single tear that had escaped and plastered a mask of indifference on her before pushing off the wall and entering the room.

"Ahem." Sakura cleared her throat to announce her presence. Kushina jolted away from Minato, a light blush covering her cheeks as she ran the few shorts steps towards her.

"Sakura we need your help!"

 _'We…?'_

Her mood dampened more if possible, though her mask only faltered for a moment. She nodded and pulled herself together. Sakura rushed to Minato side, Kushina hot on her heels and carefully helped him lay flat on the bed, much to his discomfort.

The pink hair konoichi poured her chakra into his body to assess the damage done. She grimaced at the results. Something wasn't right. Her assessment told her that he only had a few scratches, one shallow gash that needed to be stitched. Nothing life threatening at all. No serious injuries to speak of. There's certainly no reason for the Minato she knew to be in so much pain for something so superficial. Why was he in so much pain?

"Minato, can you tell me what exactly happen?" Her soft voice sounded blissful to his ears. He savored the sound. It had been an entire month since she had left him. A month since he had last seen her, heard the sweet sound of her voice. He almost sighed in content.

"Minato-kun!" Kushina yelled in a pleading voice behind the medic, breaking his focus on Sakura's words that had been playing on repeat in his head. He gritted his teeth in annoyance. Opening up one cerulean eye to peep at Sakura, she almost gasped, forgetting how beautiful his eyes were. When their eyes met, the air was stolen from his lungs. She was every bit as breath taking as she was a month ago, though there was a bit of sadness in the lovely eyes of hers but that's was to be expected. It was what he wanted _'Else I wouldn't have allowed Kushina to be here.'_ and he had been pleased to see it there. It made her look more beautiful to him in this moment. He gave a slight smile to her and Kushina mirrored it, not knowing it wasn't meant for her. Sakura on the other had casted her gazed away from him and repeated her question.

"Minato, can you tell me what happened to you? W-what is causing you so much pain?"

He made a move to sit up but winced and returned to the position on his back. Alarmed, Kushina moved past the pink haired nin to grab his hand and squeezed it gently then turned to the doctor.

"Sakura! Please just help him. Can't you see he's in too much pain to talk?" She pleaded.

Could she see he was in too much pain? _'Its just that something doesn't feel right. Even Obito, his student, being as dramatic as he is, would so much as shed a tear over something like this. So why would his sensei, a grown man I might add, be whining over something like this?'_ she thought to herself. Turning her head to the woman that look like she was close to tears, she nodded.

"Gomen, Kushina. I'll get to work right away. But I'll need you to step out of the room." Kushina gave a questioning look before Sakura continued.

"He is my patient, now. I'll have to remove his clothing to stitch up the wounds on his abdomen and assess any other injuries he may have since he is unable to speak. You can not be in the room for such things. It is against his right to privacy." Of course that didn't sit too well with the red head. _'Why would it?! I don't even want to do it! I can't imagine having and ex girlfriend examine my current boyfriend's body. Urgh… this is so awkward. I want to just disappear!'_ Sakura wanted to pull her hair out from the roots at this moment but resisted. Kushina hesitated for a moment, looking between Minato and his ex before nodding and leaving the room all.

As soon as she left, Sakura turned to grab a few ointments and supplies from the cabinets at the far end of the room. She hadn't noticed the presence behind her until it was too late. Muscular arms encircled her body, pinning her arms that held the items she had gather to her chest. She gasped and turned her head to the side only to catch a glimpse of blonde hair. She struggled in his hold and before she could open her mouth to yell at him, his face pressed against the junction of her neck that connected it to her shoulder and he deeply inhaled. That action alone stilled her. _'What the hell was he doing?!'_

"Sakura…" He drew out the syllables of her name as if it were so pleasurable to just have that word pass his lips. "I've missed you so much. How could you have left me for so long?" He asked in an almost pitiful voice and her nuzzled her neck and pulled her closer. He sounded so very hurt that she forgot the current situation at hand and relaxed in his hold.

"I've missed you too. But we are broken up. You shouldn't be holding on to me this way." She said softly before transferring the items in her arms to one hand and using the other to gently tug his arms from her body. However, he only squeezed her that much tighter to him. He had really missed this woman. He was truly lonely without her. No one to hold at night, no one to cook him warm meal, no beautiful smile to welcome him home from a long mission. The world seemed to be a bland place without her at his side.

"You said you just needed space. I gave that you. It's been a month, Saki. Come back home. Come back to _me_. I've done nothing wrong that would warrant you leaving this long so why did you?" His voice was pleading. But that is exactly what brought Sakura back to reality. Because she couldn't answer that question, she knew he was right. She turned in his arms, a difficult task do to how tightly he was holding onto her. Looking into his longing blue eyes, she gave a sad smile before shaking her head and completely changing the subject.

"Minato, you faked your injuries to come here didn't you?" He looked away from her and a small part of her wanted to giggle at the childish look on his face. He noted sorely that she didn't use the nickname she always called him by but didn't mention anything. _'I knew it! Our Minato is too strong to show pain at such a small cut.'_

"I didn't fake them. I just… may have over reacted about the pain. I am hurt though." He lift his shirt up over his head to show the gash on his side. She would have blushed had it not been for her medic nature taking over.

"Let go of me and go lie down so I can clean and patch you up." The look on her face was determined and he knew they would not get back to the last conversation until this was out of the way. Dropping his hold on her, he sighed and stepped back and went to lie down on the flat hospital bed.

It took only 6 minutes to thoroughly clean and stitch up the wound. The whole time, Minato stared at her, very unnervingly she might add. It was hard to ignore but she did the best she could to do so. Placing a gauze and surgical tape to hold it in place over the wound, she smiled at her handy work.

Taking a step back as he sat up and put on his shirt, she said "You're all set. Next time let Kushina patch you up. This was very simple work, I'm positive that even Ino could do this." He easily translated the meaning in her words **. Don't come back here and bother her unless he was dying**. He frowned, she was clearly scolding him.

"I wouldn't have to resort to such tactics if you would stop avoiding me and come home." He scowled at her.

"That is not my home anymore. We've been broken up for weeks now. I've have my own home now. You have to accept that. I don't know why you don't just ask Kushina to move in with you. I'm sure she'd be more than happy for the proposition." She whispered the last part bitterly before turning to leave, heading straight for the door. As soon her hand reached for the door knob, it was quickly pulled back and pinned to the wall along with the rest of her body. The pinkette stared up at the blonde towering over her tiny form.

"What did you just say?" His voice sounded so cold, so wrong. It frightened her.

"W-well you're with K-Kushina now so you don't need me." She said while looking down at her shoes. It was hard to keep her cool while talking to him like this. She had never seen him look angry, especially not with her. He wasn't even angry when she broke up with him. His eyes darkened at her statement.

"You really think so, huh, Saki?" His tone sent shivers down her spine. Sakura opened her mouth to defend herself when he crashed his lips onto hers, delving his tongue in to mouth and muffling her scream of surprise. He was rough in the way he took her lips, dominating her tongue instantly and she went limp in his hold. Her Minato never kissed her this way before. Anytime he had kissed her it was always gently and sweet, nothing like this. Sakura tried to turn her head from him but he would not allow it. She was struggling in his arms but he refused to let up and she was losing oxygen quickly. _'I can't breathe! I can't breathe!'_ She squeezed her eyes shut, tears brimming the corners.

Minato pulled back and leaned his head against her shoulder as they both panted and gasps for air. His hands slid from hers and chose to encircle her waist instead, pulling her trembling body to him. Sakura was way too confused to think and was in too much pain. Her chest burned from the oxygen deprived of her just seconds ago. It was as if she couldn't get enough air into her lungs fast enough.

Once her breathing started to even out and she could form rational thoughts, all she could think was _'I need to get away from him…'_

The yellow flash nuzzled her neck line and breathed in her sent of wild strawberries. "I missed this. I miss holding you like this. Kushina… Kushina is not the woman I want at my side." He reassured her.

"If my action's now have not proven that to you then tell me what it is that you need me to do so that I can show you. Just say it. You can ask anything of me. Anything and I'll do it. Because I love you more than you can ever imagine, Saki." He was pleading with her again, she knew that.

Sakura turned her head away from the shoulder that he was occupying. She would not listen to him tell her the things he thought she wanted to hear. No matter how much her heart desperately wanted to. No. She was no fool. Minato raised his head from her shoulder to look at her face. But she would not meet his gaze and it troubled him greatly. She was refusing him again.

"Saki, don't turn away from me." He gently grasped her chin and pulled her face to look at him. Her lips were slightly bruised from their kiss. Her small flesh color lips were now bright pink and swollen. Looking up to him, their eyes locked and for a moment, she saw all the emotions he had trouble containing, running through those beautiful blue eyes his. Love, desperation, hurt, and something else that she could not quite decipher. She almost softened at what she saw.

"Minato, let go of me. I have to go home." She said sternly, forcing all her confusing emotions away from her voice. He hesitated for a moment, giving her room to change her words but it never happened so he let his arms fall to his sides and turn to walk away from her. Sakura held back the urge to sigh in relief when he walked back to the hospital bed. It looked like he was retrieving another article of clothing but then again; she didn't really care to stay. Minato had given her the shock of her life with his behavior tonight and all she wanted to do was go home and scrub the memory from her head.

Quickly opening the door to exit the room, she stepped out and speed walked to her office to gather her belongings. In the distance, she heard Kushina's relieved voice float over to her ears but she kept moving.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: 4,130 words for you guys. (Longest chapter of a fanfic that I have ever written) Just want to let you guys know that I am this story is set in the past with Minato. But it is not a time travel story. I know I threw Ino into this story, but don't be confused. Their is a reason for that. But you won't know until the end. Sarutobi is still Hokage. Ino is the only one besides Sakura that is in this era. Anyways, enjoy the story and let me know what you think. R&R! :3

Minato's PVO

Minato was devastated as he stood there with Kushina. He couldn't even hear anything she said to him. He just watched Sakura walk away from him…again. Bubblegum hair swishing with every step she took away from him. He played over the events of the last hour and couldn't seem to understand how he was so certain he was when he decided to finally see her verses the multitude of emotions coursing through him now. None of which was certainty.

 **Flashback**

Team Minato had just left Hokage tower after giving a full detailed report to Sarutobi and bid each other fair well. It was a simple mission really, however, unforeseen elements forced Minato to become a shield to a few wayward kunai's. Nothing too serious, though he should knew from experience that one would need a few stitches. Which reminded him of his current situation.

' _Saki.'_

His girlfriend of 2 years left him. His Sakura, the women he loved more than anyone or anything in the world was gone. He was reminded every time he went home, every time he came back from his missions and there was no one there to welcome him, and every time he went to bed had no one to fill the space beside him. Everything felt so very empty. Like half of him was just gone.

When Sakura left, she didn't just take her clothes and personal items. She took everything that made him happy. Minato couldn't wait to come home from training with his team. Sakura would be there, in the kitchen with a hot meal ready for him most times or she'd meet him at the door and welcome him with a warm smile and tender kisses. They'd talk and laugh for hours about anything and everything before retiring to their bedroom. And though everything was always kept PG in their relationship on the count of Sakura's purity, he was content this.

Minato smiled. One of the things he loved most about her was her purity. At the age 21, she was a virgin. She would blush and giggle at all slightly perverted joke or gestures he made towards her and he love the pink tint it gave her cheeks. While not rare for women, it was extremely rare for shonobi. Konoichi's lost their virginity when they become Jounin, which Sakura had become last year. The reason for that being that there were missions that only Konoichi can take on and it involved sexual acts. The Yellow Flash had pulled many stings to make sure his woman suffered no such fate. _When_ she loses her virtue, it would be to him and it would be a beautiful memory for them both.

As a couple, they never fought. Sure they had a few silly arguments every now and then but they had always made up by the end of the day. But it was never anything serious because none of them could stand to be mad at each other for very long. Though his little cherry blossom tried, she would fail every time. When it came to Minato's charms, she was rendered powerless every time. That or he'd work her funny bone with his silly antics. He smiled faintly, remembering the way they used to be.

This by far, was the longest they had ever not spoken to one another in their 2 years together. It was maddening on his part. If he hadn't been taking on any and every mission he could, he'd have lost his mind by now and found Saki long before. But he prided himself on his rational thinking and self control but it was slipping along with the knowledge that he was really losing her. He had placed his self in denial, believing that she would come back on her own. And he had for the last month. He would allow her time to sort her feeling, time to miss him. But this was getting out of hand.

To go from blissful serenity to this empty shell of a life in such amount of time. How did she expect him to react to that? From the moment he placed his seal on her, she knew that they would never be truly separated. His seals, once place could not be removed. He had thought his intentions to never let her go was clear. She knew fully well the how permeant it was. Sakura was a smart girl, knowledgeable well beyond her years, she allowed it so she understood.

Apparently he had been so lost in thought that he didn't even register the voice calling him. Someone had placed there hand on his shoulder and gave him a gentle tug.

"Mi-Na-to-kun!" The feminine voice whispered in his ear. He almost wanted to smile, it was a classic Sakura move. But he didn't because it was not her voice, instead he turned to face his red headed friend. She had been hanging around him an awful lot lately, and it was wearing on his patience. Something he didn't have much of given his current situation. He face mirroring the emotion coursing through him. Pain. Kushina's face twisted with worry as her eyes took in Minato's appearance. The blood staining his shirt was most concerning to her.

"Minato! You're hurt!" she yelled and tried to put pressure on the wound but Minato stepped back out of her reach and settled his hand on the wet clothing. He knew she wanted to heal him but he didn't want her foreign chakara invading his body. 'Sakura is the only one that can do that.' He thought as he stare at her distastefully. Which is safe to say she took as silent cry for help seeing as she stepped forward while whispering words of comfort and something about the hospital.

"Hospital..."

"Yeah, from that amount of blood, it may be too serious of a wound to handle by myself. I am not the best medic, ya know." Kushina said, with a light blush.

Minato almost denied her until a small thought entered his mind. 'I might be able to see her.' Even though it was a long shot, seeing as it was past midnight and Sakura was always at home by four but if there was a chance, no matter how slim; he would take it. Having Kushina there would just be an added bonus if he managed to see Sakura.

~~Hospital~~

Upon their rushed arrival, Minato detected Sakura's chakara signature and decided to play up this injuries. It was rather easy, considering how Kushina unknowingly assisted him with her worrisome self. He'd refused every nin that came to help him. Of course, he knew Sakura would have to come, she was head the of this hospital. She dealt with all of the wayward patients. At least that's what she had mentioned to him a few times in the past.

When he felt sensed her coming in his general direction he almost smiled but kept his act together. Hunched over on the examination table, holding his side and panting, he allowed Kushina to embrace him. The timing was quite good because he saw a glimpse of pink hair fan past the door before retreat back into the hall, not getting to see the face her had missed so much.

Minato didn't have to wait long for her to reappear though. Because as soon as he heard the beautiful of his love, the body above him tensed and shot away from him.

"Ahem."

The blonde smiled inside when she came over to him and laid him down. His body heated at her touch and he welcomed the warmth of her familiar chakara. It felt like a dream. He was so afraid to open his eyes and for it to actually be a dream. Though one month was nothing to some people, for a shinobi, it was a gift. A lifetime. Their life could end at any moment, and each day was gift. Imagine receiving a beautifully wrapped gift, only to open it and fine it to be empty. That's how he viewed it.

Minato kept silent, playing out his little act until he figured out a way to get Sakura alone. Only now realizing that he didn't know exactly how to do that. _'Damn it….I should have thought this through.'_ He mentally chastised his self.

"Minato, can you tell me what exactly happen?" Sakura's voice rang out, beautifully to him. Confusion clear in her question.

' _Crap…well, I can't hide from a medic. Well, fake it until you make it, right?'_ The blonde thought nervously, he almost groan at his own thoughts. Now was not the time for these poor in taste jokes f his. Though, it would seem he'd took too long in his musing because his red headed advocate spoke up.

"Minato-kun!"

The Yellow Flash gritted his teeth, annoyed. 'Maybe I shouldn't have brought her here…' Opening up one eye, Minato was ready to admit his sham until his eyes met with Sakura _. 'Beautiful…but so sad.'_ He knew that look. Longing, envy, sorrow. Minato smile softly at her _. 'Envy. So I was right to bring Kushina. Now I know for sure.'_

Looking away from his smile, Sakura asked again "Minato, can you tell me what happened to you? W-what is causing you so much pain?"

Narrowing his eyes, he made a move to get up, almost forgetting he was supposed to be seriously injured. Almost. He gave a pained look and laid back down. It was just his luck when Kushina intervened and spoke for him as an advocate.

"Sakura! Please just help him. Can't you see he's in too much pain to talk?" She pleaded.

"Gomen, Kushina. I'll get to work right away. But I'll need you to step out of the room." Minato couldn't believe his ears.

"He is my patient, now. I'll have to remove his clothing to stitch up the wounds on his abdomen and assess any other injuries he may have since he is unable to speak. You cannot be in the room for such things. It is against his right to privacy." Kushina's words only served to backfire on her and moments later he able to finally be alone with Sakura. Someone had to be looking out for him from above.

' _Finally!'_

Instantly, he flash behind her and captured her small frame in a binding hug, restricting her arms to her chest. Immediately she struggled in his hold which only serve to make him hold her tighter. He was afraid let her go now that he had her in his arms again. Minato relaxed despite her struggling and laid his head between neck and shoulder, breathing in her scent.

"Sakura…" He said in the most pleasurable way.

"I've missed you so much. How could you have left me for so long?" The blonde said pathetically. It sounded like he was whimpering, even to his own ears. He frown and nuzzled her neck, trying to forget the sound of his own voice. When she relaxed in his hold, he smiled again.

"I've missed you too. But we are broken up. You shouldn't be holding on to me this way." She said softly before transferring the items in her arms to one hand and using the other to gently tug his arms from her body. However, he only squeezed her that much tighter to him. He had really missed this woman. Her words hurt. _'Why? Why was she doing this? We were so happy.'_

"You said you just needed space. I gave that you. It's been a month, Saki. Come back home. Come back to _me_. I've done nothing wrong that would warrant you leaving this long so why did you?" Minato pleaded with her. Here he was, one of the best shinobi Konoha had to offer, desperately cling to this seemingly cold women. It was sad, but pride be damn if he could bring her to her senses. Sakura turned to face him.

"Minato, you faked your injuries to come here didn't you?" He looked away from her. _'Of course she would change the subject.'_ He though also taking note of her lack of using his nickname. The one that she had given to him and used often, just as often he used the one he'd given her.

"I didn't fake them. I just… may have over reacted about the pain. I am hurt though." He lift his shirt up over his head to show the gash on his side. Taking note of the look in her eyes; he knew that look. The Yellow Flash knew he was about to be ordered.

"Let go of me and go lie down so I can clean and patch you up." He sighed, there was the order. But he couldn't help the warmth that filled him, there was his Saki. He dropped his hold on her, though reluctant, he did as he was instructed.

Sakura got to work instantly and Minato to this opportunity to take her in. Though beautiful, she looked extremely drained. He pale skin was paler than her remember and her eyes carried dark circles underneath. It worried him and he wanted to ask her about her hours of work and sleep but restrained himself from doing so. _'Not yet.'_

The healing process was rather quick, much quicker that he'd like. Nothing was solved and now that he was thoroughly healed, he'd be sent on his way.

"You're all set. Next time let Kushina patch you up. This was very simple work, I'm positive that even Ino could do this." Minato froze. She was really kicking him out. He didn't want to leave her.

"I wouldn't have to resort to such tactics if you would stop avoiding me and come home." He scowled at her.

"That is not my home anymore. We've been broken up for weeks now. I've have my own home now. You have to accept that. I don't know why you don't just ask Kushina to move in with you. I'm sure she'd be more than happy for the proposition." She whispered the last part bitterly before turning to leave, heading straight for the door. As soon her hand reached for the door knob, it was quickly pulled back and pinned to the wall along with the rest of her body. The pinkette stared up at the blonde towering over her tiny form.

"What did you just say?" His voice was just above a whisper but she her it. There was ice cold, cutting edge that lined his words. Minato was furious! How something so stupid could be uttered from the mouth of someone so brilliant? It was unbelievable. Sure, Kushina had liked him and many years ago, they had a thing that never lasted. But he never entertain her affection after that brief moment they'd shared and Kushina never overstepped her place as his childhood friend. Minato was beginning to regret telling her about such things.

"W-well you're with K-Kushina now so you don't need me." She said while looking down at her shoes. _'What the hell…? Is this what this whole separation this was all about? She was jealous?!'_ Minato wanted to laugh but not in a comical sense. No, he was irritated.

"You really think so, huh, Saki?" He didn't allow another word to leave her lips before he kissed her. Not a gentle kiss but a dangerous dominate kiss that was so heated, devour all her conscious thoughts. He was going to show her. Show her how much she meant to him so that she would never have to question her place with him. She tried to turn from him. But he would not allow it. She had to know how he felt.

Minato pulled back and leaned his head against her shoulder as they both panted and gasps for air. His hands slid from hers and chose to encircle her waist instead, pulling her trembling body to him. From the shock of the feeling behind the kiss, he guessed.

The yellow flash nuzzled her neck line and breathed in her sent of wild strawberries. "I missed this. I miss holding you like this. Kushina… Kushina is not the woman I want at my side." He reassured her.

"If my action's now have not proven that to you then tell me what it is that you need me to do so that I can show you. Just say it. You can ask anything of me. Anything and I'll do it. Because I love you more than you can ever imagine, Saki." And he meant it. But Sakura turned away from him.

"Saki, don't turn away from me." He gently grasped her chin and pulled her face to look at him. 'Again…' Minato didn't know what to do. She kept denying him. His chest tighten painfully. Rejection, hurt. But rejection from someone you loved too much was much more painful. He had a flicker of hope when her eyes soft at him. But it was washed away with her next words.

"Minato, let go of me. I have to go home." She said evenly. He hesitated for a moment, giving her room to change her words but it never happened so he let his arms fall to his sides and turn to walk away from her. With a harden face, he tried to accept her words at he his belongings. He heard Sakura rush out and he followed through the door, coming face to face Kushina.

The red headed konoichi breathed words of relief and how happy she was that he was ok but he was only half paying attention. Minato watched as Sakura left him for a second time.

Sakura walked through the halls as quickly as she could without calling attention to herself. She by passed anyone that tried to garner her attention. 'Not now. I can't right now' She thought to herself. She normally wouldn't ignore anyone. It worried the few nurses that just wanted to wish her a good night. She could see it on their faces but silently prayed that they would chalk up her rudeness to her being tired.

' _All I need to do is make it to my office, grab my bag and clock out. That's it.'_

As soon as the medic reached her office, she slammed the door shut. That was when everything hit her. All the emotions she tried locking away just moments ago with Minato just exploded through her. One by one, the tears started to pour down her small pale face. Sakura ran her hand through her hair and she began to whimper.

"Why…? Why can't he let go?" She cried to herself as she pushed herself against the wall near the door and sank down. She drew her knees to her chest and cried. 'Why?! Why can't he let me go? Why can't I?' Sakura laid her head on her knees, her crying wracked her body.

'I couldn't even make it to my house before breaking down. Pathetic. How am I supposed to get through this? I love him but I'm not supposed to. It hurts so much. Why did this have to happen? Why did they-' her thought were quickly cut short when a swift knock at the door startled her upright. Wiping furiously at her face with her coat sleeve, Sakura patted down her hair.

Taking a deep, shaky breath the pinkette prayed that she looked passable. Opening up the door to see Kushina standing there. It was an unpleasant surprise, Sakura didn't need this right now, she was too tired and emotionally drained to hide her displeasure.

Kushina however, didn't notice a thing and proceeded to throw her upper body forward and in a perfect bow. From her bowed from, Sakura saw blonde. Though his figure was far from her, she could clearly see into his eyes. At first, he looked hurt but once he caught a glimpse of her red puffy eyes and slightly swollen pink face, Minato's face turned from shocked to angry. His eye's narrowed as he began to make his way over to the women. Angry? Was he angry at her? Or was it because he she was crying? Little did she know, it was the latter. He could see the evidence of her crying and he knew then that she was hiding her feelings for him. _'Why did she deny him then?'_ He just didn't know why and he would get the truth from her.

' _I don't get to be sad one, I'm the one that's hurting him after all.'_ Sakura gave a sad smile before looking away. Effectively stopping Minato in his tracks.

"Thank you so much for helping Minato. And also sorry. The nurses were having a difficult time trying to help him…so I asked for you personally. I know I shouldn't have but I panicked. I'm sorry!" The red head said so fast it was a bit challenging for Sakura's over worked brain to keep up with. Part of her was beyond annoyed but a small part of her was happy that Minato would have such a caring woman by his side.

Sakura put a soft smile on her face, one she couldn't tell if it was real or fake. She placed her hand one Kushina's shoulder and the red head rised to full height with and equally red face, embarrassed about her confession.

"Thank you for calling for me Kushina. I can tell you were very worried. Do not ever feel bad about helping someone you care for. Rest assured, Minato is fine now. Now if you will excuse me, I have to get going." Sakura removed her hand from Kushina, grabbed her bag on the desk and closed her door. Turning around after locking her office door, she walked past the two, not once looking at them, her capacity for kindness sucked dry today.

Sakura had just barely made it out of the hospital when she heard the footstep's chasing after her. She went to speed up, when she heard his voice call to her.

"Sakura."

The medic stiffened. _'Just ignore him and keep walking.'_ She told herself as she tried to move her now shaky legs. Just as she willed herself to take that first step, she felt his warm hand on her shoulder. Minato was one of the few shinobi's that could sneak up on Sakura. Him being the Yellow Flash and all. Minato used the seal he'd attached to her body.

"Minato enough."

"No Saki, you are going to listen to me." He spun her around to face him but she never looked at him.

"Minato-" She started.

"Mina-kun." He corrected.

"I don't want to be with you anymore so just-" Shaking her head and balling her fist, she stealed her will. Minato grabbed her by the shoulders and brought her close.

"Listen to me Saki, I don't care what you're reason for leaving is, come home now and will not ask you to explain, we can forget all about this entire thing." Again, he pleaded. How many times could he beg her before her will broke? _'Someone as strong and skilled as he; was bending over backwards to get me back and I have to leave him. Because if I stay, he will suffer the most.'_ And at that moment she had finally realized that she would have to shatter his heart in order for him to truly let her go. He would indefinitely hate her for what she was about to say.

"No…" She whispered. The pinkette sighed before taking a deep breath and summoning up all the courage she could possibly muster, Sakura straightened and looked him fiercely in the eyes.

"No more, Namikaze-san. I won't pretend to be a good little girlfriend to you anymore. I've been seeing someone else, ok?! I'm sorry but I can't continue to be your girlfriend anymore. I want to be with the one that I truly loved. So please let me go." The little blossom all but yelled at him. She instantly regretted her words when she saw the look in his eyes


	3. Chapter 3

Minato released her and stared her down, searching her eyes for the truth but was unable to read her. That was a first. Minato could alway read his woman like a book. Where was his Saki? The girl who wore her heart on her sleeve, nothing was kept secret from him so how was a secret so detrimental able to pass by him? 'That's impossible! Saki would never...but then why else would she be leaving?' No, this was not something this woman was capable of. She love's he, that was without doubt but was it really so hard to believe that she could love someone else too?

The Yellow Flash lowered his eyes and looked at nothing as he searched himself for an answer. One that he knew for sure but did not want to say. 'She was trying to leave to spare my feelings. She pities me.' That sounded more like his Saki and that's when he understood. For a moment he looked so vulnerable, so broken that it killed her inside. Sakura truly regretted what she just said. 'I shouldn't have said that. Why did I say that?! I should have said something, anything else...' That shattered look on his face was quickly snuffed out as his eyes darkened and his face twisted into a scowl. His eyes...the light was gone from them. The beautiful clear blue eyes that had only held love for her looked so dull now.

He looked at her like she was his worst enemy and honestly it hurt. Sakura could only imagine the thoughts going through his head and of course her mind could only conjure up the worst ideas. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears before she turned away from his cold stare. Sakura couldn't feel more guilty at this very moment. She grasped her chest with her right hand, feeling the throbbing pain as her heart ached for the man before her. The nurse took a shaky breath.

"Gomen ne-" She started but was quickly cut off.

"Who is he?" Those words sent shivers down her spine. She had never heard him sound so cold.

Hesitantly, Sakura took a step back. She hadn't meant to but his eyes were look on her so closely that it was impulse. No longer able to look him in the eyes, the nurse tried to find interest in the pale green polish of her toes. 'There is no one else! I'm lying!' Her guilty mind shouted. The pink little kunoichi bit her lip to stop herself from screaming the truth to him. What was she supposed to do? Sakura was not a great liar. As a matter of fact, she was a pretty pathetic excuse for a ninja when it came to such things. It amazed her that she had gotten this far in the first place. 'What do I do?'

"Who were you with Sakura?!"

"I cannot tell you that. It's none of your business. I'm- I am not your business anymore." She rebutted immediately, trying to sound as convincing as possible.

"Not my business...? You tell me you have been cheating on me but you don't have the decency to to me who?" He wanted to yell at her, erase every precious memory they'd shared. 'Two years of a relationship, gone! This is not my Saki...' Minato release an angry puff of breath. He could forgive a lot of things but cheating was a something he could never forgive. It's also something that he could not believe he would have to endure with Saki.

"You are not my Saki."

Sakura hung her head in shame, he face contorted in pain. Sure she didn't cheat but the feeling of shame did not leave her and the pain was like her heart was being pulled out of her chest. She was trembling now, so close to tears that the his next words would bring forth the waterfall she had held at bay all night. Minato was about to continue when he look at the shaky mess that was the woman he loved. She looked about ready to break and he couldn't bring himself to say anymore. By the gods, he wanted to hold her and take back everything he said. He probably would have if it weren't for him finally realizing the steady crowd that has gathered around them, whispering amongst themselves.

How could he have been so ignorant. The first fight they had in two years and it was broadcasted in front of all to see. Now, Minato was a very private person and to say that this was upsetting to him was an understatement. By noon, the entirety of Konoha will have found about tonight's events and that did not please him one bit. Glancing over to the medic, she had not moved an inch besides the apparent quaking.

It was that time that Kushina decided to make her presence know. She had been hidden amongst the chattering crowd, watching in shock and disbelief just like everyone else. Who would have thought that Konoha's sacred little cherry blossom would have been capable of such things. Kushina gazed upon the scene with sad eyes. They were both dear people to her and even though she had listen to everything that had gone on, there were things that didn't quite add up. The redhead walked out of the crowd, passing Sakura with a sadden smile and moving to stand by Minato. She tugged on his sleeve and gave him a sharp look and shook her head. He read her message easily.

"Get up and go home. We will finish this in private some other time." Minato said before walking away with Kushina in tow.

She heard him. Of course she did, how could she not? All she could hear was Minato's voice. The whispers around her were drowned out by his voice. It wasn't until he left with 'her' did she finally get a grasp of her surroundings. Sakura lifted her head slowly and tossed her head from side to side. There were so many people giving her disapproving looks and glares, using crude words in hush tones against her. She couldn't handle this right now. In a quick move, Sakura disappeared in a word wind of cherry blossom petals.

~~Sakura's Apartment~~

Once home, Sakura fell to the floor instantly bracing herself up against the front the bedroom door. Her chakara nearly depleted, coupled with her non stop working and today's events, the young medic would not be moving from this spot tonight maybe not even tomorrow. Thankfully it was a weekend and with all the commotion she'd forgotten to schedule herself in for the next two days. That was the only good thing to come out of this disastrous day.

The floor was cold but she invited that coolness of it. It was almost comforting in her sorrow. Too much has happen today. Bringing her knees up to her chest and holding them in her arms, she laid her head upon them. Against all better sense, Sakura's mind came rushing back to the incident. She didn't want to think of this, all she wanted to do was sleep for as long as possible. She was incredibly tired.

'Gomen ne, Mina-kun. I told you such a horrible lie. You must hate me now… I can bare it though. I can bare it because I have to.' The medic thought to herself as she buried her face into her arms.

'But I don't want to!' Her mind yelled and the tears finally came. The pinkette's body was quaked violently at her own thoughts.

Her body hurt. She didn't know if this was just built up pain she was feeling from the past month of non stop working that was just hitting her or if it was physically hurting from knowing she'd lost Minato for good. Maybe it was both. The reason didn't matter.

"Itai, Minato. Itai yo..." was her last thing that left her lips before she finally allowed herself to grieve. Tears like a waterfall as she quietly cried herself to sleep.

Sakura awoke from a dreamless sleep. She was grateful for that, better not to have a dream than to have a nightmare. Which she was sure would have happened. Raising her head from her knees, Sakura took a good look around, instantly realizing two things, one, she was still in the hallway with her back pressed up against her bedroom door. Two, her entire body was aching, most likely from the position she slept in last nite.

Sighing to herself, the medic stood despite the harsh cramping of her stiff muscles. She braced herself against the wall for a moment before opening the door to her room and making her way to the bathroom. Flipping on the light switch, Sakura was greeted with the the her sorry appearance. The bags under her eyes were darker in color, eyes red and puffy, and face slightly swollen as well. She looked pitiful. Shaking her head, she proceeded to shower.

Many times the memories of last night threatened to rear its ugly head but she stomped it down every time. It wasn't the time. She wasn't ready to deal with what happened in the slightest. 'Today, all I will do is cook, unpack my home and sleep. Nothing else.' And she meant it. She needed to keep busy in order not to think. Sakura stepped out of the shower, completely drenched from head to toe and took in her appearance once more. She looked better, but still not anywhere near good. Her face wasn't puffy anymore but that has all that changed.

The pinkette sighed, there was nothing she could do about that the rest besides sleep. She towel dried her hair, slipped on some a pair of white shorts and a white cami before walking through the bathroom door that lead to her bedroom. Pursing her lips, she studied her room full of boxes.

"Yoshi! Time to get to work!" She said with forced excitement before tackling the boxes.

~~Noon~~

Unpacking went by way more quickly than she had anticipated. She had even got to the point of rearranging everything in the house twice before giving up. The apartment looked amazing if she did say so, herself. The bedroom's walls were painted light blue which now complemented the white bed frame, dresser, floor length mirror and night stands. It was quite lovely. The living room was painted a cream color, like the rest of the house but was only held a chocolate sectional, coffee table, and match book shelf that was rather large. Lastly, the spare bedroom just had an empty dresser and futons stacked in the closet. There was nothing else to do in the home so she resorted to making herself a late breakfast.

As soon as she sat down to her enjoy her breakfast of eggs, rice and tea, Sakura heard the fury of bangs at her front door and jumped. Immediately Minato's words traveled through her mind. "We will finish this in private some other time." Automatically, she started to panic. She wasn't ready. As she opened her mouth to ask who was on the other side of the door, a voice came through.

"Sakuraaaaa!"

Instantly Sakura sighed in relief and perked up. She knew that voice anywhere. 'Ino.' She thought fondly before opening the door. Ino wasted no time barging in and closing the door.

She plopped herself on the couch, panting and the pinkette rushed to her heavily pregnant friend's side.

"Are you alright Ino? Do you need some water?" Came her concern voice. Ino narrowed her eyes at her friend.

"Tell me it's not true, forehead." Sakura reared her head back in surprise at the blonde's quick recovery.

"What are you talking about Ino-pig?" She gave her friend a confused look.

"Did you cheat on Minato?" The conversation became serious as soon as those words left her lips.

"How do you know about that?" Sakura asked in a barely audible tone.

"How did I know - the entire village knows! They've been positively buzzing with this information all day! Now spill it!"

Her first reaction was shocked. 'Thats right, we fought right in front of the hospital.' It was poor judgement on her part. Embarrassment wouldn't begin to cover the the way she felt. How would she show her face at work? God, she wanted to slam her head against a wall. Again, she was thankful for the not having to work this weekend. She would certainly need time to prepare herself for the amount of attention she would receive from this grave mistake. Ino pinched Sakura's cheek and gave her a hard look.

"Did you?" She insisted.

The the pink headed nin stare at her friend for a moment before sighing and turning to look away. "No. Of course I didn't. But you already knew that, didn't you?"

"Damn right I did, Forehead! I just wanted to see if you would lie to me. So, that brings me to my next question. Why did you tell me the truth and lie to Minato?" Ino pressed on.

"I can't tell him. If I did, he'll never leave me alone."

"I don't get it, Sakura. Why would you want that? I thought you love him? I spoke to you just a few weeks ago - and what is all of this?" She gestured to the apartment. "When you said you moved here, I thought you were making a bad joke. What the heck, Sakura?" Ino was confused. She had to be missing something. Sakura shook her head and sighed.

"It is not something I can tell you right now." The pregnant woman threw her best friend a glare. "Ino, you have to trust me when I say that I cannot tell you right now. Everything that has happened needed to happen."

The blonde opened her mouth to yell at her stupid friend before she saw the look on her face. Sakura looked like she was close to tears. She was slightly trembling and biting her bottom lip as if to not spill forth all of her secrets. Ino smiled sadly at her and placed her hand over Sakura's which were held tightly together in her lap and gave her a comforting squeeze.

"Okay, I will support your decision...no matter how stupid it is. I just wish you would have came up with a better lie, Forehead." Sakura smiled at her words and nodded.

"Thank you Ino-pig." She beamed brightly in response. After that, a short silence followed before Ino began again.

"Okay, I can't take it anymore! Sakura, you look horrible! What the heck? You look like a walking pink corpse. Relationship or not, as your bestest friend in the world, I can't allow you to walk around like this."

Sakura blushed in embarrassment. Of course she knew what she looked like and she could not argue with Ino's description of her. It made her smile instantly, her first genuine in weeks. Ino always made her cheer her up. They had what Sakura called an abusive relationship. They both made crude jokes to each other that would seem harsh to anyone but to them, it was there way of saying they love each other...among other things.

"Hai, hai, Ino-chan. I shall be your doll for today." She giggled when Ino's eyes lit up like a kid in a candy store.

~~3 weeks later~~

The weeks flew by quickly for Sakura, though not without its problems. The first two weeks were a test of her abilities to control herself. More than twice a day she had wanted to punch someone through a wall for the harsh whispers of her. The once praised flower of Konoha was the talk of the town but not in a good way. Of course the nurse had no one to blame but herself for this. She should not have had a fight out in the open and in front of her place of work no less. Shaking her head, she sighed. Sakura should have known better than that.

The crude gossip was bad but the way she was treated was worse. Everyone was short with her. People she called friends turned on her so quickly, it was quite shocking. Work was an especially cruel place to be. Her colleagues were more demanding than usual. Sakura was already a work-a-holic so the demands of a busy hospital but she was doing twice the work load than normally. Of course she would not complain, this is her job but she knew exactly what the others were doing.

They were doing what they could to see her break, complain, maybe even cry or leave work. But this wasn't the academy, the medic would take everything in silence until it all blew over and everyone forgot about this. However, it became that much more difficult when she overheard something that she wished she had not. The two medic trainee's talk, Sakura still remembered the conversation, word for word.

Sakura was walking down a corridor of the hospital to her next patient when she heard her name being called from the room a few feet from her. She was abot to walked in until she the chatter continued.

"Can you believe she has the nerve to show her face here?" Sakura heard a female voice say.

"I know, she's the worst! I thought Minato would lose it after what she did!" Said another women. She later learned it was two nurses who had trained under her.

"Guess little miss perfect wasn't so perfect." The nurses giggles.

"Clearly, she has poor taste too. I mean, who would cheat on Minato? He's gorgeous, powerful and kind. Minato would have been better off with Kushina."

"Huh? I thought he was with her. I see them together every night."

"Seriously?!"

"Yeah, I live a few blocks away from Minato and I always see her walking into his apartment or leaving it. I assumed they were dating."

"Wow, he moves quickly. Well, there goes my chances. I suppose the old saying was right: The best way to get over your ex to date someone else."

That day, she almost broke. She knew what she said to Minato was an unforgivable act in his eyes, but she never thought he would move on so quickly. Did he really care so little for her that he was able to move on so quickly? '...And with her?' He knew how she felt about Kushina. Was he trying to get back at her? Maybe this was her punishment? It didn't matter because all Sakura could remember was running back to her office and crying her eyes out.

Everyone used to respect her and treated her kindly but now… let's just say that staying home had crossed her mind more than once. 'I deserved this for being so stupid. Gosh! Why did things end up so bad?' She berated herself once more for the makeshift excuse she had used with Minato. Sakura sighed again.

'Maybe I should take a break and go on a mission. I haven't been on one in months and relieving some stress sounds great right about now. Being away from Konoha will be good for me.'

Sakura knew she was being a coward right now. Of course, Sakura was never one to run away but so what? She didn't cause this problem. Why did she have to deal with a problem that she didn't cause. If she had to suffer, for something she didn't even do, then heck yeah; she'd rather run from it. None of this was her fault. She didn't cause this problem and it seems, she's only making it worse. So instead of making this problem any harder on herself, Sakura would just leave for a while. Hopefully, Hokage-sama would will have a mission for her.

~~Hokage office~~

"Hokage-sama."

Sakura knelt in the middle of the room with her head bowed in respect. She had left work early, which is a big 'no-no' in Sakura's rule book. She had been breaking a lot of rules lately but she was just so excited to possibly get a mission. Seeing the Sandaime was always pleasant. The older and was always sweet to her, showing a bit of favoritism every now and then.

"Sakura-chan! How are you? I have not seen you in a while." Lord third gave her a closed eyed smile.

"I am well, thank you for asking. I came to ask for a mission." Sakura stood and returned the smile. The hokage peer at her for a moment before closing his eyes and sighing.

"What rank mission are you looking to undertake?"

"S-rank, only. Preferably something far away from Konoha."

"Sakura, you wound me. Is the village such a bad place?" He faked his hurt and it made her giggle.

"Of course not, Hokage-sama. But I must admit, running the hospital has left me a bit rusty and craving a bit of excitement. Beside, missions pay more."

There was a long pause as he thought for a moment before responding. "Well, you're in luck. I just happen to have a 2 man S-rank mission. I was going to assign someone else to this but..."

"I'll take it Hokage-sama!" She yelled out before blushing when the older man before her chuckled.

"Good good. Here are the mission details. You will meet you partner at sundown in front of the village gate."

"Hai!" She said, accepting the scroll the Hokage handed to her.

"Dismissed."

Doing a simple hand seal, Sakura disappear, leaving behind a flurry of cherry blossom petals. As soon as she departed, the hokage glanced at the window. As if on cue, a figure flashed in and stood in front of the old man. They stared at each other for a moment before the Hokage threw a mission scroll at him.

"I trust you have heard everything."

The nin nodded his head as he caught the scroll effortlessly.

"Good. You are dismissed as well."

As the nin turned to leave, he was stopped once he heard the Hokage call out to him. "Oh and before I forget, this Hiraishin kunai of yours is very efficient." He said while looking down at the specially crafted kunai in his hand.

"A bit of advice; never stop searching for answers." The hokage said in a short dismissal. No later did Minato depart from the same way that he came.

Reappearing in her apartment, she quickly ran to her bathroom in her bedroom. Strippping free of her clothes, she took blazing hot shower. The water pelted her skin and burned just a bit but she was to excited to care. Something was finally going right for her. Besides, she didn't know how long it would be before she could enjoy the comforts of a hot bath. Naturally, she spent the next 3 hours enjoying the water until it ran cold.

The pinkette stepped out of the shower with skin just as pink as her hair. "Ah, such are the perks of being having a hot bath." She giggled to herself. This was the Sakura that had been gone the past few months. Warm and happy. She was turning back into her old self and it felt good. Squeezing out the excess water from her hair, she walked out of the bathroom and began to pack her pouch for the mission.

Donning a black skin tight, long sleeved romper that stopped two inches beneath the curve of her bum. Long black thigh high tights and black calf high nin boots, wrapping her 'hitae ate' around her left thigh. Lastly, she put on her jounin vest and tied her hair into a low ponytail at the base of her head, leaving her long bangs to frame her face.

" Yoshi!" She nodded her head in approval. This felt so right, being back in her nin gear. She had admittedly spent too much time in the hospital. Hopefully, her skills hasn't suffered much as a result. Smiling to herself, Sakura grabbed her a small grey pack filled with weapons and attached it to her hip before making her way to the bedroom window.

The sky was a burnt orange, signaling that day coming to an end. It was almost time to find out who her new partner was. She had had only one partner for S-ranked missions and that was Minato. 'Now that we are broken up, I don't suppose he will be there.' The pink headed nin thought to herself sadly. Unfortunately for her, images on Minato and Kushina together into her mind and it pissed her off instantly.

'Fine, he thinks I had an affair but did he really just have to go to move on like I never meant anything?! Did he ever care about me...?' Sakura shook her head furiously to get rid of those unwanted thoughts. For the love of Kami! Was there no getting away from this? She hadn't even left the village and yet these thoughts were plaguing her. Sighing, the medic took a deep breath and decided to look at her mission scroll. She hadn't even looked at it since the old man gave it to her, which meant that she had no idea what crude act she was about to commit in the name of her village. Reading over the details, it was surprising to say the least. After all, she had never had a seduction mission before.

A/N: I thought about continuing for another couple of paragraph but cliff hangers are what keeps everyone interested! Thanks everyone that has reviewed so far! Keep the love coming and I'll keep updating. Please R&R!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Sorry for the super late update. My lovely 'sister' smashed my laptop shortly after the last update for this story. I just saved up enough money a few months ago to buy a new one with very good insurance. Don't be fooled by the new story I released, it was written last year and recently uploaded. Beside that, I did have a bit of writer's block since it's been so long. However, I want everyone to know that I am continuing this story as long as you readers still want it. So Read&Review.

Sakura's raised a perfectly pink brow, twitching eyebrow. ' _Had the old man completely lost his marbles?'_ That had to be the case; no way was she reading this scroll correctly. Sure, she had had gone through basic seduction but that had been two years ago which was clearly left incompleted. She had never gotten close to the most important part of said training and she had always had a sneaking suspicion that a certain blonde male had a big hand to play in that situation. Though she could never prove it. "Minato is always so meticulous when it came to his work. I would never have found out if he did anyways and I'm positive he did." She said as she gave a light chuckle at her words.

' _Mina-kun would never have let me find out. I would have put him through a wall...or two.'_ Sakura mused.

Either way, she was still a virgin. A hopelessly, painfully, inexperienced virgin for crying out loud. Reading over the details of the mission, the pinkette grimaced. Lord Third had always been one for crude, tasteless jokes but this was far outside of his normal line of humorless jokes. What would make him give her such a task anyways? ' _I did ask for an S-ranked mission but this was completely bogus. Shit...'_ The pinkette cringed.

Briefly, Sakura entertained the idea of returning the scroll and backing out of the mission all together. Shaking her head quickly, of course she couldn't do such a thing. Especially now that she had already accepted the mission after practically begging for one. ' _I definitely can't now. No matter how much I want to.'_ she thought dreadfully. The world must have a sick sense of humor when it came to her. Here she is running from the judging eyes of her village for being a harlot...which she most certainly was not, only to be diving head first into doing a demeaning action along the same lines. ' _I must have really pissed off the gods in my past life.'_

"Anything else you want to throw my way amongst the mountain of problems you've already handed me?" She said a bit louder that she had intended with her hand thrown in the air, rather dramatically. ' _Not that it really matter. Perks of living alone.'_ Her lips pulled into a thin line before sighing in defeat, she placed the scroll in the breast pocket of her vest and headed out. No sense on dwelling on this subject anymore. Sakura would definitely have to have a **talk** with the old man once she got back and let him know that his sick sense of humor was certainly not appreciated in the slightest. But for now, she was going to suck it up and get this mission over and done with as quickly as possible.

"The faster the better." She whispered to herself. Again, she couldn't help but note the irony. She wanted wanted to leave the village so bad that she'd accept any mission and now knowing the mission she was assigned, she already couldn't wait to get it finished as soon as possible. Yeah...she definitely had to give the hokage a piece of her mind when she got back.

Taking to the rooftops, Sakura ran at a leisure pace. Yes, she was still itching to get out of Konoha, however, there was a small part of her that would miss it. Long term missions were rare for someone in her line of work since she is the head of the hospital here. In fact, she hadn't had a long term mission since her Chunin days. Actually, the thought of not seeing her home for a month or so had bothered a small part of her but the pinkette ignore it. Admittedly, she knew that small part was thinking of Minato. He was her home for a long time after all. Shaking her head, the medic proceeded faster to the meeting point. She didn't want to think of him right now. If she did, she might have gone to see him before she left.

Ten minutes into her run, Sakura had gotten to the meeting point. It didn't take her long to reach the village gates before everything started to feel real. She was leaving and it was going to be bittersweet for her. ' _This is what I need.'_ She reminded herself briefly. Looking around, it seems she had arrived earlier than expected, seeing as her partner for this assignment was not here yet. The only people around was the two shinobi that guarded the gate. She gave a small smile as a greeting gesture to which they nodded in return. It would seem she was a bit early, though that was not a problem, It was always better to be early rather than late. Sakura didn't mind waiting a bit, in fact, she made it into a bit of a game. A guessing game, actually. Something to do just to kill time until her teammate showed up. ' _I wonder if I can guess my partner before they get here'_ She smiled to herself as she began to pace back and forth slowly. Silly, of course but why not? Waiting tends to be boring so this would be the perfect way to entertain herself.

"Hmm…" She pondered, tapping her pointer finger to her chin. Well from her knowledge, seduction missions are usually comprised of one ninja. But the first of these missions were always carried out by two man teams. Well… two women teams. After all, having a man on such a mission was not the most ideal for obvious reasons. Having a man with spotted with any female would either signal they were nin, or the woman was a prostitute and the man was, for lack of better terms, her pimp. Either way it would alert someone that it was a set up. Seeing as it was not uncommon for some pimps to wait until the client was in the middle of 'the act' to come in and beat said male then rob them blind. Some of the men posted in the bingo book seemed to have higher taste in women though, based on what was reported. Common street whores wouldn't do for them and Sakura would pose as nothing of the sort.

' _Maybe Anko, it would make sense. She is the person who trains all the Kunoichi for these missions anyways.'_ Shaking her head, the medic pursed her lips in dissatisfaction. If memory served correct, the purple haired kunoichi was out on a mission of her own. She stopped in her tracks and pouted. ' _Well then it could be -'_ She didn't get a chance to finish her train of thought before someone appeared in a whirlwind of leaves and smoke less than 2 feet in front her. The guards tensed, taking a defense stance on instinct and so did Sakura. Once the smoke cleared however, she completely froze.

' _No fucking way is my luck this bad…'_ She thought to herself.

Minato stood before her in his traditional nin get up. The guards visibly relaxed and gave a short nod in acknowledgement while Sakura continued to look like a deer caught in headlights. He nodded back then turned to the pinkette who had yet to collect herself. Minato looked at his ex lover with a cold stare before turning and walking towards the gates. Once greeted with the back of his jounin vest, the pinkette quickly snapped out of her stupor of shock and awkwardly turned away. She hadn't been planning to see Minato for a long time and he had just appeared right in front of her. It had taken everything not to run after him, to hold onto him and tell him the truth when he walked away from her just now. All the feelings of regret and guilt slammed into her once he turned away.

Shaking her head, she took a deep breath and willed herself to be strong. ' _All of this is for a reason. You are doing the right thing for him so suck it up because both of your lives depend on this.'_ Sakura closed her eyes and steeled her resolve. Giving Minato one more glance, Sakura turned away and began pacing again. She was determined to return to her game of guessing her new partner to keep her busy so that she didn't have to think or look at her ex. As she took her first steps, the medic was abruptly halted by the blunt object that so rudely placed itself right in front of her path. She face planted right into the hard object, falling directly onto her bum. Annoyed, she growled lightly and looked up only to come face to face with Minato, who was bent at the waist and hovering just 2 inches from her once again shocked face.

"Either follow me or you can go back to the old man and tell him you aren't suited for this mission." He stated plainly.

Sakura blinked twice. "Huh?"

' _Wait- what? What the heck is he talking about?'_ she thought. She was kinda shocked he was even talking to her. ' _He did say we were going to finish our "conversation" from a few weeks ago but this is hardly the time…'_ she looked back to the guards. ' _..or place.'_ Frowning, she spoke up.

"There is no reason for me to follow you. I'm here for a mission." She said stoically, giving him a once over. "Seems you are as well. So I'd appreciate it, Namikaze-san, if you let me be." said the little flower as she scooted back a bit and pushed herself from the ground and stood.

He scoffed. Now, Minato prided himself on his ability to control his emotions but the _Namikaze-san_ thing was way more irritating than he cared to say. It was Sakura's way of distancing herself even farther from him and he would not tolerate it much longer. Standing erect he pulled a scroll from his pack and tossed it to her which she caught easily. The medic looked at him then to the scroll in her hand and back to him once more before her mouth pulled into a thin line. A big part of her wanted to scold the blonde for even thinking she'd read sensitive village details. There were penalties for such things. Penalties they both face and Minato would never risk his chances to become Hokage- and then, like a ton of bricks, it hit her.

"You...are my partner?" Dumbfounded couldn't even begin to describe what she was feeling right now. ' _That couldn't be right.'_ It just didn't make any sense. Men aren't allowed on these missions and of all the male nin within the village, why was it him?

"Yes. Now, let's go."

Sakura brows pulled together tightly and she bit her lip. ' _There is no way that my luck is this bad...'_ She whined mentally before she pulled the scroll open and read over it quickly. Penalties be damned, she shouldn't get in trouble for reading it anyways since she was trying to prove his claim wrong. However, 30 seconds was all it took to proved him right. This was the same exact scroll that she had received. The pinkette mentally cursed. Which meant that the hokage's bad joke finally made all the sense in the world.

"I am going to murder him." She swore under her breath.

~~~~~~~~Hokage Tower~~~~~~~

"Achoo!" Sarutobi sat at his desk rubbing his nose with his forefinger and sniffling a bit.

"Huh, someone must be talking about me."

~~~~~~~Back at the gate~~~~~~~~

This was definitely the hokage's doing. He had a bad habit of meddling and it was usually pretty funny. But that was because he never meddled in her business. Well not her personal business anyways. She could just die right now. The one person she was desperately trying to stay away from was the same person she would spend the next few weeks with. When would the irony stop?! She could almost laugh at just how unlucky she had become. The little medic sighed dramatically ' _Might as well get this over with. The sooner the better…I'm definitely going to have talk to the hokage as soon as this mission is completed about his meddle problem.'_ The murderous promise kept her from storming back to his tower and dismantling it. Her face set into a permanent frown, death clear on her features and Minato took a small pleasure from that. He heard her threat and he knew exactly who is was directed to. Still, it made him smile a bit on the inside. It was quite adorable. He always did find her cute when angry. Sakura closed her eyes and let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding.

 **Minato POV**

"I didn't think _you'd_ be my partner...considering the events." She bit her lip.

"Neither did I." He lied.

"The old man is just too damn nosy."

"Agreed." he said, knowing that he statement was in fact true. The hokage was a meddler but in this instance, she was wrong. Minato was the one who came to the hokage weeks before telling him not to allow her on any missions. Even though he was rightfully pissed at her, that didn't stop his impulsive reaction to come see her. And he saw a lot of concerning behavior. He saw everything but what he expected to see. She barely eating that much was evident even now. The incessant crying, day in and day out. That was painful to know, let alone watch. He couldn't count the many times that he forced himself not to go to her at those moments and hold her. This entire situation felt wrong. Completely wrong. This was not the behavior of a person who dropped a burden to be with someone they truly loved. But what was the clearest sign amongst them all was the sign that was not there. Her supposed new lover. Not once had he seen him. He had many theories as to what was going on but he would hear the truth from her.

 **Minato POV End**

Sakura set her lips into a thin line before she tossed the scrolled back at him. Of course, he caught it effortlessly. This was going to be a long mission. She should really be careful of what she asks for.

It had been five days and they had yet to reach the village. Five agonizingly awkward days of silence. Minato never spoke to her, barely even glance her direction. ' _Well actually, he did say a few words. I believe it was_ " _I'm setting up camp.", "Eat now."_ _oh and her personal favorite "Keep up."_ ' _ **Really? The Yellow Flash is telling me to keep up. Ha!'**_ She inwardly gave a dry laugh. That was it. For the last five days there was no contact, and no exchange of words beside those. Not only did she hate silence unless she was at work in the hospital, then it was a god sent. But this silence was uncomfortable and awkward. It had bothered her more than a little and she wondered if it bothered him at all. She knew Minato was always strict when it came to his mission but this coldness was unbearable. She had mentally prepared herself to shut down any and all inquiries he may have asked her about their sudden break up. But fortunately, nothing was said.

However, it left her with a nagging feeling to say something to him. What? She wasn't entirely sure but the urge was there nonetheless. The medic didn't know how to even start something like that after all that had happened between them. So like the rest of the trip, she remained quiet and followed after him.

Still, her mind persisted. Would her ignore her? Would he respond? If he did respond, would he be as cold as he had been before? Would he ask her questions that she wasn't permitted to answer? Was it even worth starting a conversation? He probably hated her anyways. ' _Urgh! I'm going crazy. Can't we hurry up and meet this damn contact already?!'_ she thought. ' _Any longer being alone with him and I might seriously abandon this mission.'_

She sighed dramatically at her own thoughts knowing fully well she would never do such a thing. Hearing her sigh had caused Minato stop in his tracks. Without turning around, he cocked his head to the side and raised a brow at her in question. Sakura jolted to a stop just as he did and met she his gaze. He still had that cold look in his eye and even after all of these days, she had not grown used to it. The little medic's face flushed slightly with embarrassment once she realized that she sighed out loud rather than in her mind like she had intended. The medic looked down at her boots and pursed her lips, mentally berating herself before whispering

"Sorry."

 **Minato's POV:**

Minato glanced to his right narrowed his eyes at that her. He had kept calm, keeping his feelings to himself but this pity party that was going on with Sakura was more than bothersome. He had been aware of her lack of focus since the moment he'd told her that he was her partner. So much had transpired between the two since their last **meeting** so her feeling of discomfort was expected. But they had yet to even reach the village and Sakura was already putting their lives in danger by her conscious mind elsewhere. Though Minato could not bring himself to forgive her actions, this was not the time or place for emotions. He dare not say that she was an incapable nin. Still, her attitude and focus at this present time was going to end up with one of them or both of them getting killed or seriously hurt if they were to be ambushed.

His eyes darkened at that moment, thinking back to the hokage whom he wanted to seriously maim. He had great respect for his the villages leader and he really loved that old man. Yes, he loved him like a father but giving Sakura _this_ mission was just plain insanity. Sending Sakura of all the Kunoichi within the village that had experience with such things was just pure madness. The damn old man knew exactly what he had done the moment he gave her the scroll. That headstrong pink idiot was in no way prepared for this and saying that to her face would not be the greatest idea. But he knew her. She was not ready for this. He knew her very well… though things have changed, Minato had never thought she would do something so reckless. Sakura was a hothead, yes, but too intelligent to dive into something so incredibly stupid.

That was why he was here because he knew the risks. Yes, it was life or death like any other mission but she could lose, be tortured in a way that would leave her shattered. Again… he thought back to the old man that he held such ill intent towards. ' _Damn old man was just too nosy. He knew I wouldn't allow her out of the village without myself. But to give her this mission was unforgivable.'_ he thought to himself. Over the past few months since his separation from Sakura, the hokage had made it a point to visit him at the oddest times. Sometimes it was when he was training, but usually it was at night when he was home and not always alone and Lord Third took notice of that. Kushina had made it a point to come over anytime she was free. Though Minato had been more than clear that her presence was not needed, she persisted. She'd come over, just to check up on him, make small talk and leave. But about a month or so later, she started bringing lunch for him, helping with the groceries every now and then and eventually she started just coming over to cook. It was uncomfortable at first and quite annoying but at the same time, she reminded him of his ' _Sakura'_. It was stupid and pathetic of him but to hold on to his blossom anyway he could… like using a dear friend as a replacement of some sort.

' _Pathetic, indeed.'_ But he loved her. He loved Saki so deeply and desperately that it was agonizing to stay away from her despite what had happen, that kind of love wouldn't disappear easily. Now because of Kushina's forceful mothering nature which she used to push her way more substantially into his life, he had developed an unhealthy coping habit for the loss of his beloved.

He turned fully to face Sakura who still had that lost in self pity look on her face that he was beginning to truly hate. Completely irritated Minato wanted to shake her, she ruined their happy life and for what? She looked completely miserable. Whatever it was, it was definitely not the time or place to deal with it.

"Sakura." He called out. Sakura look up in surprise.

"This has to stop. Do you understand how dangerous this mission is? I cannot be on every part of this mission for obvious reasons. If you can not stay focused on the task at hand then I swear that I will send you back to Konoha and inform Hokage-sama that we will abort this mission. Are. We. Clear?"

Sakura stared blankly for a moment. He had never threatened her before. She never took kindly to threats and Minato was no exception. "Do not threaten me, Namikaze-san. I'm well aware of the dangers."

Minato's jaw ticked at the formality. "If you are as aware as you say, you would understand that this is an S-ranked mission and your first one of this kind. One screw up, one. That's all it will take and we lose the criminal, our lives, or both. Remember that I am captain of this team and if I tell Hokage-sama that you unfit to go on missions, you will be suspended to the village. I won't allow reckless behavior."

She looked at him in disbelief. He was talking down to her. Reprimanding her like she was some Genin that was out on their first mission ever. Sakura felt the rage building within her and as she goes to open her mouth, she quickly closed it back. ' _Like it or not….he is right. We've been lucky to not have been attacked so far. If the roles were reversed, I would have already aborted the mission days ago and had my team banned from missions for a while. As much as it sucks to admit….I am a danger to us both right now.'_ She thought to herself with a frown. The little medic closed her eyes and stomped down her anger. "Fine. You're right. I won't happen again."

Minato smirked slightly, barely noticeable. ' _Whats this? Sakura giving in so quickly? This must be a new world record for her.'_ he mused internally, never letting it show on his features. He gave her an expecting look and she returned it with a confused look of her own. Slightly annoyed at the gestures he was making, which she couldn't understand, the medic gave up and started to walk off to the direction of the village. The yellow flash frowned slightly and cleared his throat which cause the tiny medic to halt but not turn around.

"That didn't sound like an apology."

 **Minato POV End**

Sakura stiffened, caught between her newly found irritation and shock. ' _He's messing with me, right? Has to be.'_ She turned her head slowly to look at him and of course, he was back to the straight face he been sporting during this trip. There was something different though, his eyes were different, there was a bit of light to them not. However, this did not deter her climbing irritation.

"That's because it wasn't." She spat.

"It should have been." Sakura's brow twitched and she clenched her teeth. ' _He's definitely messing with me.'_ She gritted her teeth and sighed. ' _This is going to be a long mission.'_

Minato smiled and walked passed her, not paying any mind to whether or not she followed because he knew she would.

The pinkette angrily rolled her eyes at him and with a deep, calming breath, she decided to let it go. This was a mission. She was screwing up enough as it is and it is not the time for her to be a hothead. So despite herself, she followed behind her superior.

A/N: Next Chapter will have some mature themes in it. Yes! I know you've all been waiting patiently for a bit of 'action' between Mina/Saku. So don't forget to follow, read and review. Until next time~


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